What was Ben Rothwell supposed to do? Call out a chump after UFC 164?

What was Ben Rothwell supposed to do after UFC 164? Call out some chump? Pretend he doesn’t want to fight the heavyweight division’s elite? Waste valuable time pumping up potential fights with opponents who move him no closer to a title shot?

Of course not, Rothwell argued. Sure, Travis Browne has a much higher ranking and a nearly spotless UFC record, and he simply laughed off Rothwell’s callout following Saturday’s UFC 164 event.

But if you’re Rothwell, why beat around the bush?

“I don’t want to call out the champ,” he today told MMAjunkie.com Radio (www.mmajunkie.com/radio). “That’s silly. I don’t want to do that at this point in time. And I don’t want to call out someone who has a losing record or is maybe a chump or something. I mean, we’re all in the UFC, so we’re all tough. But I don’t want people going, ‘Oh it’s trying to pick an easy fight.’

“So I was like, ‘Here’s a really tough guy. He’s got some big wins.’ So I thought it’d be a good fight, but yeah, he’s got himself in a good position right now, and maybe it’s out of my grasp right now. But who knows?”

Rothwell (33-9 MMA, 3-3 UFC), who finished strong and knocked out Brandon Vera (12-7 MMA, 8-7 UFC) in a pay-per-view main-card bout at Milwaukee’s Bradley Center, used the post-fight press conference to express his interest in a bout with Browne (15-1-1 MMA, 6-1-1 UFC), who recently bulldozed Alistair Overeem for his 11th knockout in 15 career victories (and third “KO of the Night” bonus).

If you’re 31-year-old Rothwell, who thinks he has maybe a good four or five years left in the sport, why not speak up and campaign for it? After all, maybe Browne needs another tough opponent while the absolute cream of the heavyweight crop gets matched up.

“With Josh Barnett and (Fabricio) Werdum in the mix, I see those two as really, really close (to a title shot),” Rothwell said. “But we’ll see (what’s next for me). The UFC is the one who makes the fights.”

Rothwell and Browne actually were matched up a year ago at UFC on FOX 4, but the former was forced off the card with an injury, and the latter went on to claim contender status with his recent run.

Or as Browne put it in a tweet to Rothwell after the UFC 164 callout, “I’m looking forward, not back. You have some catching up to do son.”

Fine, Rothwell said. It was never personal to begin with. He just wants a tough fight that can improve his own stock, so if it’s not Browne, he’s cool with someone like Stipe Miocic or Matt Mitrione.

“I think all three of those fights are going to be good fights,” he said. “We just need to see what happens.”

So why is Rothwell thinking so big? After all, he hasn’t put together back-to-back wins in nearly six years. However, before a crushing January loss to Gabriel Gonzaga, Rothwell made the heavyweight division take notice with a 70-second knockout of Brendan Schaub.

But was the Vera win even sweeter?

“I think so,” the Wisconsin native said. “With Brendan Schaub, I thought it was a good knockout, but it was a quick fight. People were like, ‘Oh, you rocked him, and then you caught him off guard.’ This fight, I felt very in control, took it the third round and then exploded on him. I think I showed a lot of different stuff in this one. … Doing it in the Midwest in Milwaukee and with the crowd, that was the cherry on top.”

So with his current momentum, he simply wants big fights, even if it means ruffling some feathers as he campaigns for them.

MMAjunkie.com Radio broadcasts Monday-Friday at noon ET (9 a.m. PT) live from Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino’s Race & Sports Book. The show is hosted by “Gorgeous” George Garcia, MMAjunkie.com lead staff reporter John Morgan and producer Brian “Goze” Garcia. For more information or to download past episodes, go to www.mmajunkie.com/radio.

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